Former SCERT Director arrested over errors in Odisha textbooks
The Odisha Crime Branch has arrested a former SCERT Director for criminal negligence regarding errors in school textbooks. The errors caused significant financial loss to the state and impacted educational quality for students in classes 1 to 8.
Why it matters
It underscores issues of administrative accountability and the integrity of public education materials.
The Odisha police’s Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested the former Director of the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) in connection with the alleged criminal conspiracy in the preparation of school textbooks riddled with errors for Classes 1 to 8.
The Crime Branch, which is investigating the case, said senior Odisha Administrative Service officer Manoj Kumar Padhy was entrusted with the “overall supervision, coordination, monitoring, and approval of the textbook development process” under the National Education Policy 2020 during his tenure as SCERT Director.
“He dishonestly failed to discharge the official duties entrusted to him and knowingly approved and forwarded print-ready manuscripts for publication without ensuring verification of their factual, scientific, geographical, and pictorial contents, amounting to criminal negligence,” read a statement issued by the Crime Branch.
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